College of Arts, Sciences, and Letters

Arts

How can we support young people with cancer?

stuxbury — Wed, 29 Jan 2025 16:48:34 +0000

How can we support young people with cancer? stuxbury Wed, 01/29/2025 - 11:48

Young people are often asked about college plans, careers and relationships. But what happens when a teen or young adult is in a situation where they need to focus on one day at a time?

Associate Professor of Health Communication Nick Iannarino — who’s researched health communication challenges for young adults with cancer diagnoses for 15 years — went right to the source and asked teens and 20-somethings about the support they need and the advice they’d give to peers.

“This is an important area of research because there is an overall lack of understanding about what quality of life means for a young adult and what their needs are,” Iannarino said. ““This population isn’t largely being addressed when it comes to their needs following a cancer diagnosis. Depending on where people fall in age range, they are typically grouped into older-aged individuals or pediatric. But adolescents and young adults are in a very different stage of life than these other groups.”

Iannarino — along with a team of researchers from Michigan Medicine’s Rogel Cancer Care Center, Mott Children’s Hospital and ��-Ann Arbor — conducted a study in which they talked with 27 Rogel and Mott patients, ages 12 to 25. The young people had diagnoses including ovarian cancer, leukemia, lymphoma, osteosarcoma and testicular cancer. Their findings were recently published in a Journal of Communication in Healthcare article.

Through open, honest conversations, Iannarino says the study participants highlighted the need for similar-age cancer support groups and advocacy opportunities, as well as having trusted doctors, family and friends.

Advice from participants included:

Take it one day at a time. “Sometimes you have to accept that you don’t have full control over every day of your life or every move that you make. If you could just try to live optimistically and happily each day and find something in each day that makes you happy, that’s what you need to do because tomorrow is not guaranteed.”
Reframe the situation. “Stay strong and keep your head up. No matter how much hair you lose, you’ll always grow it back.”
Trust the medical team. “You just gotta trust the plan. I mean, you gotta have trust in the doctors and . . . that everything’s gonna work out.”
Ask for support. “Don’t feel like you’re really making it hard on people when you ask for help. Even for little things. ’Cause, for me, I feel bad when I’m like, ‘Hey, Mom. Could I get some water? I don’t really feel like walking downstairs.’ She’s like, ‘For sure.’ At the start of it, I was like, ‘I really feel bad for doing this,’ but she tells me every day, ‘If you need to wake me up, just wake me up.’ Just hearing that makes me feel like more people should know that people are out to help you.”
Think about a fertility backup plan before beginning chemotherapy. “For a lot of people, it’s not something that they’ve really thought about when they’re 21, 22 . . . if you have the resources, always freeze your eggs because you don’t know what you’ll want to do five, 10, 15 years from now.”
Advocate for yourself. “(Doctors are) super-nice people. Ask ’em questions. But sometimes they’re not as good at handling the emotional side of things as someone else could be. If you want to talk to a therapist, you can tell your oncologist that and they’ll help point you in the right direction or they’ll bring in the person that you want to talk to for you because they’re full of resources and you can utilize all of them.There’s always gonna be someone there for you, even if you feel alone and you don’t have family support. Your doctors will help you find the person you need to talk to.”

Family support is also crucial, but sometimes family and friends don’t know how to best provide it, Iannarino said. Even as an expert, he’s struggled with this. “It’s human nature to not know if your actions are too much or not enough,” he said. “But it’s better to do your best and be present than it is to stop showing up because you aren’t sure what to do.” The nonprofit organization, b-present, where Iannarino serves on the board, is a comprehensive resource for families. They offer a support roadmap for each stage of the cancer journey.

Iannarino has friends who have fought cancer. One of his best friends since high school was diagnosed with testicular cancer at age 23. “I saw how it really affected his relationships and his identity. He didn’t want to rely on anyone else and didn’t want to ask for help, even though he needed to,” said Iannarino. “It made me very aware of the barriers young people have when speaking up.” His friend is doing well and is now married with a family, he added.

Iannarino said this advice-focused research work is one part of a larger study the group conducted surrounding cancer and developing adolescent and young adult identities.

Iannarino continues to explore doctor-patient cancer communication with adolescents and young adults, along with the ways health systems can best provide families with support and information, even when cancer centers have limited resources. “Asking adolescents and young adults the question, ‘What advice do you have for another person who is going through this situation?’ opens a door for communication that can build trust and lead to clinicians and patients talking more openly about needs,” he said. “And when those needs are identified, patients and their families can be better connected to the right resources.”

Story by Sarah Tuxbury

Faculty Research

Off

Wed, 01/29/2025 - 16:47

Health Communication Associate Professor Nick Iannarino’s research looks at creating advocacy and support avenues for teens and young adults with a cancer diagnosis.

Health Communication Associate Professor Nick Iannarino has researched communication around cancer diagnoses and young adults for more than 15 years. Photo by Annie Barker

CASL Internship Fair

ebarbier — Mon, 27 Jan 2025 19:51:57 +0000

CASL Internship Fair ebarbier Mon, 01/27/2025 - 14:51

February 27, 12-1 p.m. in 1030 CASL Building

Welcome spring by learning about internship opportunities for summer and fall!

Hear an alum talk about her current position for the City of Dearborn and how her internship helped her prepare for this role.

You can also hear faculty give advice and discuss academic credit for internships!

2025-02-27T12:00:00-0500 to 2025-02-27T13:00:00-0500

College of Arts, Sciences, and Letters Building

CASL Building

4901 Evergreen Road
Dearborn, MI 48128
United States

https://goo.gl/maps/NJDERJjscn8n6jqm6

1030

United States

On Campus

CASL Internship Office

Liz Clark

ebarbier@umich.edu

Current Students

Undergraduate students

Fair / Festival

Info Session

‘How will you make your mark on the world?’

stuxbury — Sat, 21 Dec 2024 19:14:43 +0000

‘How will you make your mark on the world?’ stuxbury Sat, 12/21/2024 - 14:14

Nearly 40 years after Henry Maier earned his diploma from ��-Dearborn, he attended his first campus commencement. The retired FedEx ground president and CEO skipped his own ceremony because he moved immediately after finals to begin working. On Dec. 21, he was back at his alma mater — this time delivering the keynote speech to the Class of Fall 2024.

Keynote speaker Henry Maier

“Thanks for the opportunity to finally attend — even if it is almost 50 years late,” said Maier, who graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in economics in 1986. “I entered ��-Dearborn as a freshman in the fall of 1972, only the second class of freshmen admitted to the university. My family couldn’t afford college, so I had to work one, two and once three jobs to pay tuition. I’m sure many of you sitting here can relate.” Maier went on to have a 35-year career with FedEx. “��-Dearborn made it possible for students like me to get not just a college education, but a Michigan education,” he continued.

Surrounded by family, friends and favorite professors, hundreds of Dearborn Wolverines were awarded 713 degrees during two 90-minute commencement ceremonies in the Fieldhouse. The morning ceremony recognized graduates of the College of Arts, Sciences and Letters and the College of Business. The afternoon ceremony celebrated graduates of the College of Education, Health and Human Services and the College of Engineering and Computer Science.

Delivering the keynote, Maier congratulated the graduates on reaching their goals. He said their hard work will continue to open doors for more opportunities. “Today you reached a milestone, but what you really have done is given yourself choices. You can choose to earn a living, what problems you want to help solve and decide what direction you want your life to go in,” he said.

Maier added that, as life unfolds, the knowledge the graduates have gained will prove important — but so will the understanding that there will always be lessons to learn and skills to grow. “If you take nothing else with you today, be curious, inquisitive and remember that your education does not end when you leave today,” he said.

Student speaker Almunthir Elhady echoed the idea that graduation is not a conclusion. The College of Engineering and Computer Science graduate told his fellow students that with each step they take, they will be called to adapt, to grow and to rise. “The future is not a destination — it is a process of becoming, a journey of constant redefinition, of striving not just for personal success, but for a world that is better for those who will follow,” Elhady said.

Student speaker Almunthir Elhady

As Chancellor Domenico Grasso certified the degrees, he told the students that he looks forward to seeing the good that they bring into the world. “I welcome you to the society of learned men and women and to the pantheon of distinguished Michigan alumni — almost 700,000 strong — who have shaped and defined the world in which we live,” Grasso said. “Today also marks the shortest day of the year in terms of daylight, but from here on, the days will gradually grow longer. Just as the light of the sun increases, so too will the light of your education — symbolized by our university seal — guide you, illuminating your futures for the rest of your lives.”

Then, students in the Class of Fall 2024 — who ranged from ages 18 to 65 and hailed from 14 U.S. states and many nations around the world — turned their tassels, marking their official transition to alumni. During the two ceremonies, 482 undergraduate, 226 graduate and five doctoral degrees were awarded.

Grasso also awarded one special diploma — to Maier. “We are going to present him with the diploma that he did not receive during his commencement,” Grasso said. “Congratulations.” Smiling, Maier accepted it with one word: “Finally.”

Chancellor Domenico Grasso and Class of Fall 2024 keynote speaker Henry Maier

During his keynote speech, Maier noted that the anthem for his generation — the Baby Boomers — was a Graham Nash song titled “Chicago.” He paraphrased the lyrics: “We can change the world. Rearrange the world. It’s dying to get better.” He encouraged the newest ��-Dearborn alums to think about their song, while also talking about what a big day it was for them both — even though their graduations were nearly 40 years apart.

“To the Class of 2024, I ask, ‘What’s your anthem? How will you leave your mark on the world?” Maier said. “What I can tell you is you have already begun.”

Story by Sarah Tuxbury. Photos by Annie Barker and Andrew Mascharka

Commencement

Alumni Engagement

College of Education, Health, and Human Services

Off

Sat, 12/21/2024 - 18:57

��-Dearborn awarded 713 degrees during two 90-minute commencement ceremonies on Dec. 21 in the Fieldhouse.

The Class of Fall 2024 was celebrated at two commencement ceremonies on Dec. 21. Photo by Annie Barker

Faculty Fulbrights bring international partnerships to Dearborn Wolverines

stuxbury — Mon, 16 Dec 2024 16:55:56 +0000

Faculty Fulbrights bring international partnerships to Dearborn Wolverines stuxbury Mon, 12/16/2024 - 11:55

Three ��-Dearborn faculty from three different colleges were awarded grants to teach or conduct research in three different areas of the world — Indonesia, Egypt and Ethiopia — through the Fulbright awards program.

The U.S. Fulbright Scholar exchange program, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, awarded grants to ��-Dearborn faculty. Composition and Rhetoric Teaching Professor Kristian Stewart received an award for the 2023-24 cycle. Business Economics and Finance Lecturer Mercedes Miranda and Computer and Information Science Associate Professor Birhanu Eshete earned grants for the 2024-25 cycle.

“A Fulbright Award is a way we can bring other parts of the world back to our students,” says Stewart, who did her most recent Fulbright in Indonesia over the summer. “We have diversity on our campus. There are times when I have students with five different first languages in my classroom. But we can still get isolated in our own groups, in our own enclaves. So it’s important to connect our students with people in different areas of the world that they may be unfamiliar with. And it’s important for them to learn how to tell — and listen — to the stories of others. Fulbright awards open doors to connect our students to people in different areas of the world.”

Reporter spoke with Stewart and Miranda about their recent awards. Eshete, who is currently in Ethiopia, will be highlighted in a future story.

Mercedes Miranda, Egypt

Miranda says an exchange opportunity changed her life when she was a college undergraduate. As a part of a pilot program at her university in her home country of Ecuador, Miranda — an economics student — was chosen to join a cohort that would study at the University of New Orleans in the United States.

“That opened a world of opportunities for me to create new networks to climb the career ladder and to experience a different culture,” says Miranda, who notes that, as cultural immersion, she watched “Saturday Night Live” until she was able to pick up the references and laugh at the jokes. “Many of our students at ��-Dearborn may be of Arabic descent, but they are born here and do not have the financial means to travel outside of the U.S. I see this Fulbright as a way to help me better understand life in a MENA (Middle Eastern and North African) country, while also creating ways to help my ��-Dearborn students connect with people across the world.”

Starting in February, Miranda will be teaching four-month business economics courses in Egypt, contributing her expertise to global academic exchanges and fostering international collaboration. Miranda has previously done non-Fulbright teaching in China for MBA students and in Italy for undergraduates.

Miranda’s Fulbright university will be in Cairo, but the name of the institution will not be shared with her until 10 days prior to the beginning of the Fulbright due to their protocol. She will teach both undergraduate and graduate courses that have an interdisciplinary, hands-on approach and merge concepts from finance, business economics and international business.

“I am going to teach through using business case studies through the Egyptian economic perspective, while also having the students reach out to Egyptian businesses to create a collaborative project that will help the businesses and give students the applicable knowledge they need,” she says. “I do something similar at ��-Dearborn, except from an American perspective and we work with Dearborn- and Detroit-based small businesses.”

Miranda enjoys seeing other areas of the world, but this will be the first time she’s traveled to Egypt. She chose to apply to the country specifically because it was the largest country in the MENA region with an institution where she could apply her international business economics expertise and 20% of the population are in the age range of 15 to 24.

“Many of our students are fluent in Arabic and I wanted an Arabic-speaking country that had a younger demographic. I see my Fulbright as the first step to a partnership of some type. Maybe it’s a project or a class. Maybe it’s having ��-Dearborn students go there or for Egyptian students to study here,” says Miranda, who notes COB Dean Frédéric Brunel will visit Egypt while she is there to meet faculty and university officials. “No matter what it will look like, I do know that this is only the beginning of something very wonderful.”

Kristian Stewart, Indonesia

When Stewart returned from Greece in fall 2023, after her first Fulbright Scholar Award, Stewart looked for additional international collaboration opportunities through Fulbright. She found a Fulbright Specialist opportunity to create a Center for Academic Writing at the Universitas Negeri Medan in Medan, Indonesia, in the summer 2024.

In addition to developing a Centre for Academic Writing on the Medan campus, running workshops and giving talks, Stewart provides one-on-one instruction and critiques for faculty academic papers. “After the six weeks, I left them the curriculum that I developed as a foundation for their Centre for Academic Writing,” she says. “To continue our relationship, I'm still working with their faculty. On Tuesday mornings our time, I'm theirs for the morning. They can put questions or their scholarly work in WhatsApp or a Google drive and I can edit and give feedback.”

Before Stewart left Indonesia, she and university employees discussed how they would like to come to ��-Dearborn and co-teach with her or how they can bring ��-Dearborn students there.

“The Fulbright Specialist award might be for a relatively short period of time, but the effects of the work being done through the program will be long lasting for me, their faculty and our students,” Stewart says.

Working with the University of Peloponnese in Greece during her first Fulbright Award, Stewart tailored her ��-Dearborn digital storytelling course to fit the needs of the Greek school’s curriculum, available technologies and student population. One such example project comes from Stewart’s ��-Dearborn course, “Being Human Today.” Stewart’s Dearborn Wolverines collaborate with students from universities around the world to create short videos that present life through individual lenses. “You combat stereotypes by having experiences outside of your own. You find solutions to world issues by learning from other people and seeing how they solve problems. Exposure is key,” says Stewart, who has previously taught in multiple countries, including South Africa, China, Germany and Italy.

A highlight of her first Fulbright Award was an invitation to provide a plenary address at Jefferson House, the residence of the United States Ambassador to Greece, where she was proud to provide remarks and represent ��-Dearborn to an international audience that included United States Ambassador to Greece, George J. Tsunis.

Stewart says as a result of her Fulbrights, her goals are to foster additional international connections and projects to benefit ��-Dearborn students. And it’s working.

��-Dearborn and the University of the Peloponnese recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding. Students and faculty from the two schools plan to work together for the next five years on writing-related research endeavors, including students virtually working together and sharing stories.

Stewart has additionally established a Collaborative Online International Learning partnership with biotechnology students in South Africa, and they just finished an eight-week project. Together, in WhatsApp groups, students investigated one of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals students then co-authored StoryMaps reflective of their research. Stewart also plans to connect Dearborn students to the Indonesian students, stemming from her work in Medan, in the near future.

Story by Sarah Tuxbury

Faculty and Staff

University-wide

Accounting and Finance

Computer and Information Science

Off

Mon, 12/16/2024 - 16:55

Three faculty members from three ��-Dearborn colleges — COB, CECS and CASL — earned awards to work in Egypt, Ethiopia and Indonesia.

��-Dearborn faculty members, from left, Mercedes Miranda, Kristian Stewart and Birhanu Eshete

Is pH the GPS of our cells?

lblouin — Wed, 04 Dec 2024 14:35:53 +0000

Is pH the GPS of our cells? lblouin Wed, 12/04/2024 - 09:35

Acids, which, technically speaking, are molecules that give off positively charged hydrogen ions when dissolved in water, play a role in some of the most important functions in our bodies. Your stomach contains something very close to hydrochloric acid — a highly acidic substance that helps your body dissolve food and nearly bottoms out the pH scale, scientists’ measure of acidity. Amino acids and fatty acids are, respectively, the building blocks of proteins and lipids, two of your body’s most essential complex molecules. The A in DNA? That stands for acid. But even with all that acids do for us, Associate Professor of Biology Kalyan Kondapalli thinks we may still be underestimating their power. With a new National Institutes of Health-funded project, he’s investigating whether pH may be functioning like a cellular GPS, helping our cells route important cargo within their borders to perform functions that are fundamental to our health.

Kondapalli’s latest work focuses on immune cells called macrophages, which he says are sort of the paramedics of the immune system. When a bacteria or virus enters your body, the macrophage is often the first to arrive. It engulfs the invader, enveloping the bacteria or virus inside the borders of its cell membrane, where it is packaged into a transport vesicle called a phagosome. This transport vesicle then begins a journey away from the outer edge of the cell toward the interior of the cell, where it eventually merges with a lysosome — an acidic organelle that dissolves the bacteria or virus into its component parts. After this process is complete, the bits and pieces are attached to the outside of the macrophage's membrane. Here, more specialized immune cells interpret these components of the virus or bacteria and start the process of manufacturing antibodies — kicking off a counterattack by the immune system that’s tailored to the specific disease.

This process is a classic showcase of the body’s use of acids to break things down. But Kondapalli says that when you start looking at the finer details of the phagosome’s journey within the cell, it’s not the only role that acids appear to be playing. One of the most peculiar things is that as the phagosome begins its journey of ferrying the bacteria or virus from the cell membrane to the interior part of the cell, the environment inside the phagosome gradually gets more acidic. What’s especially weird, Kondapalli says, is that the change in acidity doesn’t appear to be strictly associated with breaking things down. So what exactly is going on?

Kondapalli had encountered similar phenomena when he was doing his postdoc work at Johns Hopkins, where he studied a type of specialized protein that are found on endosomes — the class of subcellular transport vesicles of which phagosomes are one type. He says the proteins function sort of like a fine-tuning knob for controlling the pH within endosomes by constantly allowing more or less acid to leave the vesicle. Changes in how this protein behaves, or having too much or too little of the protein, is consequential across an array of organisms. In some plants, for example, fiddling with this knob, and hence fiddling with the acidity of the transport vesicles, can change the color of flowers. One of Kondapalli’s studies found that some people with autism didn’t have enough of these knobs, which meant that a transport vesicle responsible for disposing of excess neurotransmitters was failing to do so, leaving the brain flooded with chemicals. A significant number of people with glioblastoma, one of the most lethal forms of brain cancer, appeared to have too much of this knob. “With this cancer, one of the proteins that is supposed to be transported to the lysosome to be degraded instead gets delivered to the surface of the cell. And that cargo is a receptor that signals the cell to grow and divide. That can be a big factor in developing cancer,” Kondapalli says.

Kondapalli knew that this knob was associated with the regulation of pH within endosomes. And he also knew that irregularities with this knob often meant transport vesicles were struggling to deliver their cargo to the proper places. So he began formulating a bold hypothesis: What if pH was somehow regulating the directional movement of the transport vesicles? What if acid was functioning not just as a fundamental building block of something else or something that dissolves other things, but as a sort of GPS within the cell?

To test his hypothesis, Kondapalli first formulated a way to fiddle with the knob so he could manipulate the acidity of the endosomes and see what happened to their behavior under different conditions. Using a genetically engineered virus that triggered the endosomes to make more or less of these proteins, he could make the environment inside the endosome either more acidic or more alkaline. But then he needed some way to precisely measure how this influenced the endosomes’ directional movement. Assistant Professor of Physics Suvranta Tripathy, who specializes in experimental biophysics, still remembers Kondapalli’s very specific line of questioning on the day Tripathy was interviewing for his position at ��-Dearborn in 2020. “I was doing my presentation on my research, and I remember Kalyan said, basically, ‘Do you think you can solve this problem?’ And I said, ‘Yes, I think we can definitely do that,’” Tripathy recalls. “Then, of course, after formally joining ��-Dearborn, I sent him an email reminding him that he asked me this question and that’s how we started working on it.”

Kondapalli (second from left) and Tripathy (far left) have been collaborating on their phagosome transport research since 2020. Photo by Annie Barker

Tripathy, it turned out, was also very interested in how phagosomes move through the cell. He was particularly focused on two types of proteins located on the outside of the phagosome that function like motors, propelling the phagosome either toward or away from the center of the cell, depending on which type of motor protein was more abundant. He had been studying exactly how these motor proteins know where to go, and he found Kondapalli’s hypothesis that pH was potentially driving their directional movement to be surprising and exciting. On their first project, Tripathy used a 2018 Nobel-prize-winning technique called optical tweezers to track the movement of phagosomes within the macrophage, while Kondapalli manipulated the phagosomes’ pH using his genetic engineering process. To do this, Tripathy attached a tiny plastic bead to a bacteria, which was then engulfed by the macrophage and packaged, along with the bead, inside a phagosome. Using a tightly focused laser, Tripathy was then able to measure the mechanical parameters related to the movement of the bead inside the phagosome under different pH conditions as it traveled throughout the cell. The results confirmed Kondapalli’s general hypothesis. If the maturing phagosome never got acidic enough, it wouldn’t reach its intended meet-up point with the lysosome, the invader would not be dissolved and the rest of the immune system would never be alerted. pH, it seemed, was indeed linked to the directional movement of phagosome transport — and, fundamentally, to our health.

The results were exciting, but Kondapalli and Tripathy say they’re hoping their new NIH-funded project will reveal many more details of how exactly pH is regulating phagosome transport. Their general working hypothesis is that changes in acidity inside the phagosome drive changes in the kind of lipids that make up the phagosome’s membrane. These lipids then “recruit” corresponding motor proteins, which, again, come in two varieties — one that drives movement away from the center of the cell and one that drives movement toward it. So, stitching it all together: An increasingly acidic environment inside the phagosome means the phagosome’s membrane will contain more of a kind of lipid that attracts motor proteins that move the phagosome to the center of the cell. A more alkaline phagosome creates a cell membrane full of different kinds of lipids, which attract the other kind of motor protein and propel it in the other direction. And Tripathy says the process may be more complicated than that. For example, it appears that motor proteins may require a binding protein to attach to the lipid, and that binding protein can be pH-sensitive.

Kondapalli says if they can more thoroughly document this connection between pH and directional movement in phagosomes, it could have a variety of implications. On the practical side, it could provide a path to new types of therapeutics. He says the bacteria that cause tuberculosis and Legionnaires' disease, for example, have defenses that specifically disrupt the phagosome’s acidification process in an effort to keep from being destroyed. So if scientists could discover chemical pharmaceuticals that do what Kondapalli currently does with genetic engineering, we could also control acidity — countering the effects of the bacteria’s defenses and steering phagosomes to their proper destinations.

Bigger picture: Establishing this new role for pH would be a pretty big-deal revelation in the world of cell biology, given that acidity is generally thought to only perform certain kinds of functions in the body. Moreover, what would make this finding so interesting is macrophages aren’t the only type of cells that have transport systems. Many types of cells depend on similar endosomes to ferry cargo, so it’s entirely possible that pH is functioning as a GPS all over the body, though that would take more research to fully establish. Indeed, Kondapalli thinks there may still be other roles for pH that scientists have yet to explore. “If you think of the different organelles in the cell as rooms within the house, what’s really fascinating is that each room has a unique pH,” he explains. “You take mitochondria, where the cell’s energy is made, the pH is slightly alkaline. The lysosome is acidic, around 4.5 or 5. The nucleus is neutral, it’s around 7. The cytosol, the media in the cell, is also close to neutral. Why is this? We still don’t have the answer. So we may really just be scratching the surface with this new work. Acidification may be doing a lot more in the body than we ever thought.”

###

Story by Lou Blouin

Faculty and Staff

Faculty Research

Research

Natural Sciences

Off

Wed, 12/04/2024 - 14:35

Scientists used to think acids in our bodies were mostly for building things up or breaking things down. But new research from ��-Dearborn faculty Kalyan Kondapalli and Suvranta Tripathy is pointing to a new fundamental role for pH in our cells.

Associate Professor of Biology Kalyan Kondapalli (far right) and Assistant Professor of Physics Suvranta Tripathy (far left) in the lab with undergraduate researcher Mariam Duhaini (second from left) and graduate student Lanqin Cao. Photo by Annie Barker

Here are your CASL and COB Medallion winners

stuxbury — Mon, 02 Dec 2024 17:56:37 +0000

Here are your CASL and COB Medallion winners stuxbury Mon, 12/02/2024 - 12:56

��-Dearborn honors a select group of students each semester with Medallion Awards. Chosen by faculty from their respective colleges, graduates are recognized for their outstanding quality of character, intellect, integrity and academic record.

Three Dean’s Medallion awardees are chosen per college — 12 students overall — with one student selected to receive the top honor — the Chancellor’s Medallion. This semester’s Chancellor’s Medallion winner comes from the College of Engineering and Computer Science. All awardees will be recognized during the Dec. 21 commencement celebrations.

Here are the Fall 2024 College of Arts, Sciences and Letters and the College of Business recipients.

The awardees from the College of Education, Health and Human Services and CECS will be featured in a Thursday Reporter article.

Dean’s Medallion

College of Arts, Sciences and Letters

Mariam Duhaini

Degree: Bachelor of Science in biology and Bachelor of Arts in psychology

Awards, honors and distinction: University Honors (W20, W21, F21, W22); Distinguished Research in Biology Award; Patient Care Associate of the Year at DMC hospital

Scholarships: SURE Fellowship

Academic achievements and internships:

Duhaini’s research contributions are impressive, culminating in an invitation to give an oral presentation at the prestigious Gordon Research Conference on Extracellular Vesicles. It is extremely rare for an undergraduate to be selected to speak at this national conference. Typically, only postdoctoral scholars, graduate students and faculty are chosen for this honor.

Mariam also has two manuscripts currently under review in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, co-authored with Associate Professor of Biology Kalyan Kondapalli. One, on which she is first author, focuses on exosome biogenesis and the other focuses on SARS-CoV-2 trafficking in host cells, with both studies investigating the molecular mechanisms regulated by the sodium-proton exchanger NHE9. Duhaini’s research contributes significantly to addressing gaps in the field of endosomal trafficking. Duhaini also served as a teaching assistant for Prof. Kondapalli’s cell biology course.

Extracurricular and community projects: President of ActiveMinds; hospice worker; Crisis textline responder

Future plans: Duhaini is currently applying to medical school programs. In the meantime, she continues to work on her exosome research with Prof. Kondapalli.

Lauren Fossano

Degree: Bachelor of Arts in criminology and criminal justice

Awards, honors and distinction: University Honors (W22–W24,); Dean’s List (F21, W22–W24)

Academic achievements and internships: As part of her practicum requirement for her degree, Fossano participated in multiple internships. Most notable is her position as a Federal Bureau of Investigation Honors Intern, a highly selective program that holds a 2.5% acceptance rate among roughly 12,000 applicants. She also held an internship with the Northville Township Police Department Detective Bureau in summer 2022 and participated in ��-Dearborn’s selective cold case partnership with the Monroe County Sheriff ’s Office. In addition, Fossano participated in the university’s Inside-Out Prison Exchange class and conducted multiple research projects for her courses.

Extracurricular and community projects: Member of the National Society of Leadership and Success and the ��-Dearborn Criminology and Criminal Justice Collective; volunteered at FBI gift-giving outreach event

Future plans: Fossano is currently exploring graduate programs. In the meantime, she continues to work as an intern with the FBI. Long-term, she is interested in supporting offenders as well as victims and survivors of crime through her continued work in law enforcement.

Katie Dreher

Degree: Bachelor of Arts in psychology; mInor in women’s and gender studies

Awards, honors and distinction: Outstanding Student of the Behavioral Sciences Department (2024); Dean’s List (F21–W24)

Scholarships: ��-Dearborn Dean’s Scholarship (2021-2024); John J. Brownfain Endowed Memorial Scholarship

Academic achievements and internships: Dreher has excelled in numerous areas of research and coursework, completing both the ��-Dearborn Honors Program and the Psychology Honors Program. For the latter, she completed an honors thesis with Associate Professor of Psychology Rob Hymes, exploring how rejection sensitivity mediates the relationship between vulnerable narcissism and relationship satisfaction in romantic relationships. In a voluntary research project conducted with a peer, Dreher conducted research on perceptions of kidnap victims and “missing white woman syndrome.” She has submitted both of these research projects to the 2025 Midwestern Psychological Association Meeting for presentation. In addition, during her time at ��-Dearborn, Dreher worked with several faculty as a social psychology lab assistant. In this role, she collected, interpreted and analyzed data.

In 2023, Dreher completed a semester-long training in dialogue facilitation and helped host community conversations with women veterans as part of “Same Mission, Many Stories,” a Michigan Humanities-funded project.Professor of Sociology Francine Banner, Professor of Health and Human Services and Women’s and Gender Studies Lisa Martin and Veterans Affairs Coordinator Tom Pitock served as advisors to this project. As part of this work, Dreher participated in the annual Michigan Women Veterans Conference, where she presented data to veterans and policymakers. Dreher is currently interning at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor’s Medical School, Department of Psychiatry, where she works under a pediatric neuropsychologist who specializes in cancer patients and survivors.

Extracurricular and community projects: Undergraduate Society of Psychology and Neuroscience; Psi Chi

Future plans: Dreher is applying to graduate programs in clinical and social psychology.

College of Business

Kristina Al-Shaer

Degree: Bachelor of Business Administration in finance

Awards, honors and distinction: Angell Scholar (W24); University Honors (F22–F23);

William J. Branstrom Freshman Prize (W23); Dean’s List (F22–W24)

Scholarships: Excellence Scholarship; Allard Family Trust Endowed Scholarship; Fast Track Scholarship

Academic achievements and internships: Al-Shaer's dedication to her studies and passion for business shows in how quickly she earned her degree while balancing internships and real estate work. She began at ��-Dearborn in Fall 2022 and will be finishing her degree in under three years, earning her the Fast Track Scholarship from the COB Scholarship Committee. Al-Shaer began working at RE/MAX Dream Properties in 2021 and maintained a work-life balance that allowed her to earn several honors and graduate early, in addition to performing well at her internship and as a real estate agent.

While working as a marketing assistant and realtor at RE/MAX Dream Properties, Al-Shaer also began an internship at Stellantis as a student financial analyst, maintaining both of her business passions. At Stellantis, Al-Shaer assisted both the international and state tax departments to prepare annual forms and ensure compliance.

Extracurricular and community projects: Fundraising committee head for Alpha Kappa Psi–Eta Nu chapter; Student Food Pantry volunteer; Forgotten Harvest volunteer

Future plans: Al-Shaer plans to continue her education at the College of Business next fall, pursuing her master’s degree in finance. She looks forward to continuing her work at Stellantis and as a realtor while obtaining her degree.

Mackenzie Mertz

Degree: Bachelor of Business Administration in finance (financial management concentration), minors in supply chain management and in criminology and criminal justice

Awards, honors and distinction: Angell Scholar (W22); William J. Branstrom Freshman Prize (2021); University Honors (F20, F21, W22); Dean’s List (F20–F22, W24); Rudy Radulovich Award (2022); Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference Volleyball All-Academic Team (2022, 2023); WHAC Defender of the Week (x4); WHAC Second All-Team Conference (2023); NAIA Scholar Athlete (2023); Academic All-District Team (2023); NAIA Academic All-American (2023, 2024)

Scholarships: Metropolitan Scholarship; Women’s Volleyball Scholarship; COB Internship Scholarship; COB Richard M. Haddrill Scholarship; Allard Family Trust Endowed Scholarship

Academic achievements and internships: In summer 2022, Mertz worked as an intern at Estate and Business Planning Group, where she shadowed fiduciary investors and led the implementation of a new online filing system to enhance company efficiency. The following summer she worked as a client accounting and advisory services intern at UHY, which included preparing quarterly workbooks for clients and conducting data analysis.

Extracurricular and community projects: ��-Dearborn Volleyball team member and captain; Athletes in Action; Clinton-Macomb Girls Fastpitch League volunteer softball coach; Athletic Department’s canned food drive volunteer; robotics competition referee for Shumate Middle School.

Not only has Mertz excelled academically during her time at ��-Dearborn, she has also pursued her passion for volleyball. She has been a member of the university’s volleyball team since August 2020, and was the team captain for the past three seasons. As captain, Mertz implemented “accountability partners” to foster a safe and supportive environment and has strived to lead by example. Her coach, Eric Stark, praised Mertz’s leadership skills and attention to detail, as well as her ambition to achieve her goals on and off the court. All the while, she has balanced volleyball with work and school — she worked several jobs to put herself through school and served as a grader for Information Systems Management Lecturer Lise Urbaczewski, who has praised Mertz’s performance and will miss her work after graduation.

Future plans: Mertz plans to further her education in finance and take the Securities Industry Essentials Series 7 and Series 66 exams to become a licensed financial planner. She also plans to continue her commitment to volleyball by serving as the lead training coach at Victor’s Volleyball Club and as the assistant volleyball coach at ��-Dearborn.

Om Patel

Degree: Bachelor of Business Administration in supply chain management and information systems management

Awards, honors and distinction: Angell Scholar (W23); University Honors (F21, W22, W23, F23, W24); Dean’s List (F21–W24)

Scholarships: Victor J. Streeter Scholarship

Academic achievements and internships: In May 2024, Patel participated in a research project with Associate Professor of Operations Management Yi-Su Chen to understand decision-making under pressure. The project was structured as a game, where players had to make decisions to reduce carbon emissions and develop energy infrastructure while minimizing their environmental impact. Patel has also worked as an intern at Trijicon, where he led a project focused on shipping regulation for lithium batteries, and at Autokiniton, where he coordinated supply chain elements to improve efficiency and scheduled deliveries.

Om has shown his passion for helping and teaching others by forming study groups for two operations management courses. Operations Management Lecturer Laura Birou praised his initiative and leadership for establishing the groups that led to higher levels of student success. Other professors have also complimented Patel on his dedication to his studies and involvement in COB’s Supply Chain Association. His supervisor at Autokiniton praised his eagerness to learn and ability to work in a team.

Extracurricular and community projects: Vice president of Supply Chain Association

Future plans: Patel plans to pursue a master’s degree in supply chain management while working in the automotive or military and defense industries. He is also committed to educating and mentoring future students by one day becoming a professor.

Off

Mon, 12/02/2024 - 17:55

This commencement season, select students across the university are recognized with ��-Dearborn’s top honors.

Graphic by Violet Dashi

The art of living a courageous life

stuxbury — Wed, 06 Nov 2024 17:38:33 +0000

The art of living a courageous life stuxbury Wed, 11/06/2024 - 12:38

If someone doesn’t know how to swim and a friend suggests a white-water rafting trip, the answer is likely going to be a resounding no. Unless you’re ��-Dearborn alum Sheri Hunter.

In 2009, Hunter was busy raising her two children with her husband Mannard and staying active in their church. Despite this active life, Hunter was looking for some adventure and community. So, when Hunter’s friend suggested the rafting trip, she, the friend and one other pal packed up the car and headed to West Virginia. On the banks of the Gauley River, the group tightened their life jackets, grabbed an oar and plunged in. Literally.

Sheri Hunter and her Dave Divas friends went on many adventures together.

It was the start of their many adventures together. The trio christened themselves the “Dare Divas” (and even trademarked the name) and embarked on trips that would push their comfort levels, pump up their adrenaline and solidify bonds that only form when tackling scary things. Along the way, Hunter embraced the recognition that getting through tough moments and giving yourself the space to work through your fear can be a powerful catalyst for personal growth.

Adventure Speaks in Many Ways

The rafting trip was the start of many adventures with the Dare Divas and the beginning of deep friendships. The women have tackled skydiving and race car driving, and even hiked Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. But in 2012, tragedy struck. Hunter’s husband died suddenly, leaving her in shock and deep sorrow. “I was trying to figure out the path for my children, keeping them well and whole and also managing my own emotions,” Hunter, an accomplished writer, marketer and public speaker, recalls. “I went back to what really gave me some sort of respite, which is my writing.” She journaled through her anger, her fear, and feelings of uncertainty. “Being able to write helped me order my emotions a little bit, and be able to say what I need to do, because so often you don't really know what to do, but you know you have to move forward.”

She also found comfort and support through her faith and her Dare Divas. The group continued their adventures, injecting joy into Hunter’s life amid the grief. “Doing those different activities following Mannard’s death felt surreal, because I shouldn't be laughing and feeling a sense of glee following his death,” Hunter says. “But it was the one thing that allowed me to shake things up and not become so dire.”

Through it all, she kept writing, chronicling her journey to find joy again. Her experience became a book, “Daring to Live: How the Power of Sisterhood and Taking Risks Can Jump-Start Your Joy.” The book has resonated with many people, much to Hunter’s delight, and it was recently optioned by Amazon Films. “I think, secretly, there’s a number of people who want to do similar types of feats,” she says. “The book kind of stirs something up inside of individuals that want to be daring in some aspect of their life.” Doing things that scare you doesn’t necessarily mean jumping out of an airplane, she explains — being daring might mean going back to school or applying for that job that seems like a stretch.

In addition to the book, Hunter also helps others break out of their comfort zones and fight feelings of imposter syndrome through public speaking engagements and professional meetings. “So often when imposter syndrome arises, it's because some new feat is happening that is outlandish or you've just accomplished something enormous, and everybody is giving you accolades, and you're like, ‘I don't even know how I did that,” she observes.

She says the key to dealing with these bouts of uncertainty is to give yourself a beat and reflect. “There are certain situations that just arise that make you question who you are,” she says. That’s where stepping back is key: “What are the conversations I have with myself? Why am I stymied from moving forward? Why am I allowing these certain situations to impact how I feel and view myself?” While imposter syndrome doesn't necessarily go away, Hunter says taking a moment to comfort your inner self can help you go after the things that really matter.

Hunter says her first lessons in being open to change — and seeing how that can take your life in a positive direction — came in college.

The Power of ��-Dearborn

There were glimpses of Hunter’s adventurous leanings even when she was a kid growing up in Detroit. Afternoons were spent on her bike, riding around the neighborhood and occasionally tackling jumps off dirt ramps. Family vacations to Cedar Point were a childhood treat, and Hunter relished the mixture of joy and fear she felt riding roller coasters. “I feel like I had a really great childhood,” she says. “I grew up with very little, but I always felt so loved, wanted and cared for.”

Between bike rides, Hunter was drawn to writing. In the fourth grade, she won a schoolwide writing contest. “That was the first time I felt like I was really good at something,” she says. The writing bug stayed with her in college. “I think you tend to pursue those things which you really feel that you’re good at and that you also enjoy. I went down that trail for a minute, including at ��-Dearborn,” she recalls.

Her decision to attend ��-Dearborn was an easy one. “I always wanted to be part of the Michigan family,” she says. After visiting both the Ann Arbor and Dearborn campuses and weighing the associated costs of both school and living expenses, she says that Dearborn was the winner. “It's a nice opportunity to develop and grow on a smaller campus,” she says. “I just think that Dearborn is so cool — we're close enough to Detroit, so we have that flavor, and we're close enough to Ann Arbor where we can get a taste of that environment.”

As a first-year student, she was awarded a bank-funded scholarship that provided a four-year tuition award in exchange for interning. Throughout her schooling, Hunter balanced a full class load with 20 hours per week at the bank. The internship made her consider a career in business, but she felt conflicted. “I just didn’t like it,” she recalls.

While talking with her political science professor, Helen Graves, Hunter confessed that she wasn’t happy studying business but felt like she needed a career that would make money. Graves, who retired in 1995, pointed out how well Hunter was doing in political science and suggested focusing on that. “She counseled me and said, ‘You can go in so many different ways with this: You can go into law, you can go into journalism, if you want to reevaluate and go into business, give yourself a beat to assess what’s really best for you,’” Hunter remembers. That conversation gave Hunter the permission she needed to follow her passion and reinforced the importance of trusting yourself.

After graduation, Hunter thrived in various careers, including journalism and banking, and she eventually made her way back to business. She earned her MBA from Lawrence Technological University and today is a marketing and public relations specialist for the City of Birmingham, as well as the president of Lyons, Hunter Media Group.

She has continued to be involved with ��-Dearborn since graduating. In the past year, she was the master of ceremonies for the Alumni Difference Makers Awards and she serves on the Alumni Society Board. Her gift of service reflects her appreciation for her undergraduate experience.

“I look at all of the values and mission that represent what ��-Dearborn is and what it meant to me, and it just really has shaped who I am as a human being, being on that campus,” Hunter says. “And because I value the programs that they have, I value the professors, the teaching, the knowledge base that is there, I feel like being involved with the board is a form of paying it forward.”

As for her adventures with the Dare Divas, the group is committed to both intrepid, physical activity and thoughtful acts of service. Last year, the group went to Africa and volunteered their time and resources to the children and caregivers in a local orphanage. “Wherever we go, we don’t want it to just be a place where we go there, do an activity and leave,” says Hunter. “We hope that when we leave, we’re leaving something that will be meaningful to the community.”

Story by Sarah Derouin

Alumni Engagement

Off

Wed, 11/06/2024 - 17:36

Sheri Hunter, ’89 alum, shares her insights on the power of adventure and the importance of giving yourself space to grow.

Sheri Hunter's book "Daring to Live: How the Power of Sisterhood and Taking Risks Can Jump-Start Your Joy” was recently optioned by Amazon Films. Photos courtesy of Sheri Hunter

University fellowship aims to create 'dream team of sustainability'

stuxbury — Wed, 23 Oct 2024 16:07:05 +0000

University fellowship aims to create 'dream team of sustainability' stuxbury Wed, 10/23/2024 - 12:07

College of Business senior Anisa Elezi says an internship where she evaluated eco-friendly procedures opened her eyes to the importance of sustainable practices. And now, through a new fellowship at ��-Dearborn, she’ll be able to explore that interest further in a way that will benefit the campus community and beyond.

Elezi is one of four students named as an Environmental Interpretive Center Collegiate Sustainability Fellow. The program, which is a collaboration between the EIC and the Office of the Provost, selected one student from each ��-Dearborn college to improve sustainability practices on campus, both through individual projects and interdisciplinary collaboration.

In addition to Elezi, students are College of Education, Health and Human Services EdD student Diana Mtairek, College of Engineering and Computer Science master’s student Kirill Nartov and College of Arts, Sciences and Letters senior Leah Williams.

Elezi, who’s majoring in digital marketing and public relations, says she wrote about sustainable practices and identified areas for improvement when it comes to eco-friendly procedures while at chemical firm BASF, where she’s currently a marketing and communications intern. With this new interest, Elezi thought about her time at ��-Dearborn — the other place where she spent the majority of her waking hours.

"I realized that I was getting more into sustainability," Elezi says. "I found it very interesting to see the different eco-friendly things that could be done that may not be incorporated into what we do at ��-Dearborn — yet." That’s when she learned about the EIC fellowship and its goal to develop a central hub for the sustainability efforts across campus.

Professor of Geology Jacob Napieralski, who became the EIC director in 2023, says he’s learned about all of the work toward sustainability that happens across campus — like the Planet Blue Ambassador program, waste reduction initiatives, carbon neutrality efforts, faculty sustainability-focused committee boards and more.

Napieralski wanted a way to amplify these initiatives. “Great things are happening, but it’s not organized in a specific community-facing location,” says Napieralski, who collaborates closely with ��-Dearborn’s Sustainability Coordinator, Grace Maves. “We want to work on sustainability initiatives in a way that it becomes part of our DNA at ��-Dearborn.”

With the EIC hosting many community-focused events that showcase the importance of nature and environment independent of the four colleges, Napieralski saw the EIC as the perfect place for a central hub. His aim is to bring together diverse strands of sustainability work and generate new ideas by cross-pollinating the expertise of students from each of ��-Dearborn's colleges.

The students meet at the EIC on Wednesdays to discuss sustainability ideas and initiatives.

"We looked for students who were very interested in learning, understood that they're going to start with a blank slate and brought a lot of tools to the team," Napieralski says. He noted that applicants demonstrated creativity and originality that the application and interview process, with students submitting proposals relating to the use of artificial intelligence for sustainability projects and the synthesis of automotive engineering with computer coding, for instance. “There were moments when interviewing these students that we said to ourselves, ‘We never thought about that,’" Napieralski observes.

In addition to collaborating with the other fellows, Elezi says she’ll focus on marketing the Environmental Interpretive Center and promoting its ongoing events. She says she is also implementing improvements to the EIC website and newsletter to improve traffic and clickthrough rates in an effort to get people engaged in the community- and student-facing environmental programs.

"I think the EIC is an unknown gem of this campus. Just being there a couple of times a week for the past month has made me want to bring more friends here," Elezi says.

Provost Gabriella Scarlatta says Napieralski approached her to discuss the centralized hub and student fellowship idea — and that ��-Dearborn’s leadership team supported the efforts and funded the student positions.

"This will allow the EIC to boost its footprints on and off campus, improving effectiveness of sustainability-related efforts at the EIC and across campus, and diversifying the participants that engage in environmental sustainability and equity while supporting and strengthening interdisciplinary collaborations," Scarlatta says.

Napieralski, who works on environmental justice projects like flooding issues in low-income Detroit communities, says the fellowship and hub will also make the work taking place on campus more accessible to the community. The EIC brings thousands of community members to campus per year through nature walks, K-12 field trips and more.

“We want to be the go-to pipeline for information and resources. We want to know the priorities at the department- and college-levels and then roll them out at the university-level,” he says. “I see the four colleges as legs and the EIC as the body. Together, we can turn and face the community to show what we are doing and how we can be partners.”

He says the student fellows’ involvement through ideas, advocacy and their college-affiliate work is an essential part of making this happen.

“The four we selected really did stand out in their ability, especially in their past history, their ability to work together collectively and their ideas," Napieralski adds. "Now, we will go from there and build things together."

Story by Sarah Tuxbury and Shaun Manning; Photos by Annie Barker

Nature or Environment

Sustainability

University-wide

College of Education, Health, and Human Services

Off

Wed, 10/23/2024 - 16:02

New campuswide initiative brings together sustainability efforts from all four ��-Dearborn colleges.

EIC Sustainability Fellows are, from left, Anisa Elezi, Kirill Nartov, Diana Mtairek and Leah Williams.

Dearborn Wolverines gain real-world experience through internships

kbourlie — Thu, 17 Oct 2024 16:35:56 +0000

Dearborn Wolverines gain real-world experience through internships kbourlie Thu, 10/17/2024 - 12:35

For students getting ready to enter the workforce, internships offer valuable opportunities to build skill sets and resumes, while also testing out knowledge learned in the classroom in the real world. Reporter recently talked to four students who dedicated part of this past summer to an internship to learn more about their experiences.

Caroline Tepper, College of Business

Business major Caroline Tepper plans to graduate this December and already has a job lined up with Ford Motor Company, thanks in large part to a purchasing and supply chain internship she completed this summer.

“I'm lucky and grateful that I've been extended an offer to actually join Ford Motor Company starting in January. It's really exciting to come back after my internship,” Tepper says. “I'll be a Supply Chain Ford College Graduate in purchasing, and that entails a three-year rotational program. You move through two or three different rotations to help new hires gain experience in the field.”

Tepper says her summer experience gave her a chance to put skills she learned to the test.

“I actually utilized pretty strong data analytical skills throughout learning how to navigate several of Ford's data risk tools that they use in order to monitor risks throughout the entire world,” says Tepper.

For other students preparing to enter the workforce with their first internship, Tepper reminds them, “You have to think of it like a foot in the door to a company potentially extending you a full time position. It’s almost like a longer interview.”

“Try your best, ask questions,” Temper advises. And remember: “We have fresh and diverse perspectives, and what we can bring to a company from our college experience, I think, it’s really valuable.”

Christina Townsend, College of Arts, Sciences and Letters

��-Dearborn senior Christina Townsend found her perfect internship match this summer working in social media and public relations for the Friends for Animals of Metro Detroit animal shelter. The journalism and screen studies major – who is also minoring in marketing – needed to complete an internship to fulfill her degree requirements. For the animal lover, being able to use her videography skills while building her marketing skills was an ideal fit.

“I'm a big cat and dog lover. For the dogs, I joined them on walks around the site and I took pictures with them. With the cats, I visit them in their cat condos and make videos with them or put them in a greeting room and make a more interactive video with some toys. But I also enjoy the people. There's a lot of good people here,” says Townsend.

One of those people was her supervisor, Manager of Development and Community Relations Maria Nardecchia, who Townsend says “took her under her wing” and went above and beyond to make sure she got the experience and knowledge she needed out of the internship. “I left the internship more confident in my ability to market and showcase my skills,” says Townsend.

Logan Kilby, College of Engineering and Computer Science

Mechanical engineering senior Logan Kilby spent summer 2024 continuing to gain hands-on experience through his product engineering co-op with American Axle and Manufacturing. The mechanical engineering student has worked in driveline systems for the company over the last three years, largely focusing on component engineering. While the co-op has given Kilby the real world experience he needs to succeed as an engineer, it’s also given him an opportunity to make industry connections both within his company and with original equipment manufacturers such as GM.

As he looks toward graduating this December, he’s confident in the knowledge and skills he’s built. “I've really gone from not knowing anything to having all kinds of skills under my belt. And I feel confident that I can do the job of any full-time engineer,” says Kilby. “Most of the tools I would use as an engineer, I already have about three years’ experience with.”

This October, Kilby accepted a full time position as a mechatronic engineer with AAM.

Maya Abdallah, College of Education, Health and Human Services

Maya Abdallah

During her final semester at ��-Dearborn, Maya Abdallah completed a summer internship at United Outstanding Physicians with their data entry department. While the internship was not required for her major, Abdallah wanted to get insight into the business and insurance side of healthcare since the next step in her career path is applying for medical school. During her internship, Abdallah was able to learn more about how medical insurance works and the collaboration that happens behind the scenes between physicians and insurance providers to make sure the needs of patients are met. She says one of the best aspects of her internship was the people she worked with. “They were very welcoming and very nice, and they really wanted to make sure that I had a good experience there. They really made sure that I was learning.”

While Abdallah is now looking at applying to medical school, she’s glad to have had this experience early on in her academic career so she can put that knowledge into practice and knows what to expect later on.

“It's a very niche and specific part of the medical field that you wouldn't really see even as a physician,” says Abdallah. “I definitely will be using it in my future career.”

###

Interested in learning more about completing an internship as part of your academic journey? College of Arts, Sciences and Letters students can contact the CASL Internship Office. College of Engineering and Computer Science students can contact CECS Experiential Education. College of Business Students can contact the COB Business Career Center. College of Education, Health and Human Services students can contact CEHHS Field Placement.

Story by Kathryn Bourlier. Photos by Julianne Lindsey and Julie Howells.

Careers or Internships

Experiential Learning

Student Success

College of Education, Health, and Human Services